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'Rise of the Guardians' review: And for dessert, a heaping helping of scampering icons

Pioneer Press

Posted:
11/20/2012 12:01:00 AM CST

Updated:
11/20/2012 09:57:00 AM CST

"Rise of the Guardians"

If turkey puts you in a tryptophan coma this week, the frenetic "Rise of the Guardians" might be just the thing to get your pulse racing again.

"Guardians" is all over the map quality-wise, but one thing about it is consistent: Its pace never lets up. That's probably because the movie, much like this year's more successful "The Avengers," tries to do a lot.

It's an adventure story that unites several iconic characters, and because we don't know much about a couple of the icons (sure, we know Jack Frost nips at our noses, but then what?), it also has to fill us in on their origins before it can even get started.

The story, as a result, sometimes feels too complicated. But the main thing you need to know is that the Boogieman (icily voiced by Jude Law) is jealous of the attention kids give Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and, ahem, Jack Frost. So, he and his minions are sneaking into children's dreams to steal away their belief in those childhood icons. Which the icons try to put a stop to as Easter nears, not that the movie cares one bit about the reason for that season.

Along the way, "Rise of the Guardians" is enlivened by an entertaining array of accents (in addition to Law, there's Alec Baldwin's Slavic Santa and Hugh Jackman's Aussie bunny) and by inventive character design (the exception being the weird-looking "Guardians" kids, one of whom looks like a competitor in "RuPaul's Drag Race: Children's Edition").

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"Guardians" was inspired by illustrator/writer William Joyce, whose work, such as the book "Dinosaur Bob" and the Oscar-winning short "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," is unfailingly inventive. That may be why it's the simplest things that work best in "Guardians," things like the way the mute Sandman communicates via clever Pictionary-like drawings.

In the midst of all the noise and explosions, moments like those allow this sometimes overblown comedy adventure to slow down and wow us with its imagination.

-- Chris Hewitt

"RISE OF THE GUARDIANS"

Directed by: Peter Ramsey

Starring: Voices of Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher

Rated: PG

Should you go? It's not fantastic, but it's fun, and it's the one of the few family films coming out this holiday season. **-1/2